The Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja has set aside the July 24 judgment by the National and State Houses of Assembly Election Tribunal in Asaba that declared Ndudi Elumelu of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as the winner of the last election for Aniocha/Oshimili Federal Constituency of Delta State.
The appellate court, in two judgments delivered on Thursday, declared Ngozi Okolie of the Labour Party (LP) the winner of the election.
Consequently, the court faulted the tribunal for voiding Okolie’s election and proceeded to dismiss the petition filed by Elumelu before the trial tribunal, on which the voided judgment was given.
The appellate court, however, agreed with the counsel of the LP, Mahmud Magaji (SAN), that contrary to the finding of the tribunal, Okolie was properly nominated and sponsored by his party.
It also held that he resigned his appointment as a Senior Special Assistant (SSA) to the Delta State Government as required by the Constitution before contesting for the seat.
